Fable - Ask Monsters In The Streets

[Felice]

Felice was feelin’ good. There was no better evidence needed than the flush of her cheeks and the swaying of her steps. Luckily, it was Harlowe that provided a nice, mostly steady, brace for her via an arm looped through her own. It was nice, it was how she imagined normal friends acted.

Then the cold hit and she quickly realized how life in two coastal cities had not prepared her for just how cold it could get. ”W-we’re going to need, a lot, a lot more,” she said in slurred words that were made harder to spit out due to the shivering she had begun doing.

It turned out that no amount of alcohol could make you immune to freezing temperatures.

She cracked a smile though seeing the joy on her vampire friend’s face at the lazily drifting particles of snow overhead. Despite the physical temperature a warmth welled up inside of her at the contact from her friend and the beautiful display overhead.

”If these guys are afraid of the snow I think you’ve got both of us beat,” Felice giggled and shot a knowing glance towards Harlowe.

 

[Matias]

"I FUCKJING TOLD YO-HICCUP!" Matias said, his echoing declaration rattling some of the now frozen windows around the square.

He smirked for a moment, looking around.

It appeared he had not quite frozen the entire city, just a very large chunk of it. He could feel how far the ice had extended, how far gone the cold actually was. He could also feel a slight wooziness wash over him, though whether that was the alcohol or his use of magic he could not tell.

A breath filled, and he stumbled over towards the two girls. "Well...they m-might not be scared of the snow, but I'm sure it'll add to the effect."

Probably.

"Are you cold?" He asked Felice, wondering if she could even feel the temperature.

Could Harlowe? He looked at the Vampire as if to see.

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe's head tilted her head to the side as she heard the tremor in Felice's voice. She hadn't considered the other monster would be cold mainly because she hadn't felt temperature since turning. Everything was just... neutral. Or a shadow of what she should have felt as a human.

"Hold on!" She chirpped and then vanished in a blur of silver. No more than ten seconds past before she was back, arms bursting with fur coats, hats, gloves and more. "I wasn't sure what you would like..." she said awkwardly to her friend before offering a shy smile.

 

[Felice]

”You t-two aren’t c...cold?” It had never occurred to her that some monsters might lose the sensation of warm or cold air against their flesh. That realization would’ve caused Felice grief had the vampire not dashed off and returned so swiftly.

A broad grin touched her features and she grabbed a bushy fur coat that trailed down past her knees, a bright plaid scarf, and a green ushanka hat. ”Thanks! I like all of it, how do I look?”

The harionago performed a clumsy, drunken, twirl to show off her new outfit. She tried not to think of how dreadful it must’ve been for Harlowe and Matias to feel nothing at all. While she may have hated the cold she was thankful that at least she could feel it.

 

[Matias]

"Look like a proper Neusian." Matias said, speaking of the great Imperial City in the norhtern islands.

Cortos traded with them sometimes, though Matias himself had never been. Though he'd probably fit in better now. A sigh escaped him, his breath not even showing within the air. Now was hardly the time to wallow in self pity.

The Frost Giant opened his mouth to say something else. "Maybe try ta-"

"OI! You there!"​

A voice broke into his comment, Matias not even turning his head as a patrol of Guardsmen walked over towards them. Each was dressed in armor that not a day ago had been seen fighting alongside the three monsters, now they looked at them like the monsters they were.

"Are you responsible for this...this..."​

The head guard waved wildly at the frozen square.

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe didn't need the coat but she still pulled on a beautiful pure snow-fox fur coat. She pulled it up snug around her face and imagined how nice and warm it would have felt when she was a human. The vampire was just tugging on one of the furry hats when the guards appeared. None of them looked happy. A few were glaring at the snow as it fell and others were watching the three monsters as though they weren't quite sure what would happen next. Harlowe flashed them a smile which made at least two flinch.

"Of course not! We just came to investigate it ourselves, didn't we guys?" she looked to her friends innocently and then shook her head as though she were disappointed in the guards for even asking. The look she gave them was the perfect picture of hurt.

Then an idea hit her.

"You know... we have heard of this happening to other cities - all the way down in Cortosi. If you wanted us to hunt down whoever it was doing this we could... come to a deal," she looked at her nails.

 

[Felice]

To her surprise, Harlowe was fast on her feet when it came to deception.

”Agent Harlowe, are you sure? I’m not sure if they could afford our services,” two fingers vigorously rubbed at Felice’s chin as she pretended to be deep in thought. A foot tapped up and down in a rapid motion, she hummed and hawed, and she shot both of her colleagues a curious glance.

Eventually she allowed an exasperated sigh to escape her lungs. ”Huh, I suppose we haven’t much choice… whoever did this needs to be stopped,” both of her brown eyes settled on the guards, ”normally our services are extremely expensive. We’re rather famous. But, maybe we could come to an arrangement.”

Felice smirked and a finger drunkenly rose in an over excitement manner, ”only because were feeling generous, of course!”

These guards we’re definitely eating out of the palm of her hand. Now they just needed Matias to seal the deal. Or, he could freeze them and she could find out what frozen organs tasted like.

 

[Matias]

It became very obvious that Matias' way of doing thing was different than the two women's.

Harlowe's first instinct was to lie and say their motivation was the same as the guards, Felice's was to follow along with Harlowe, and Matias? Well as soon as the man had first spoken a flash of icy blue flickered back over his eyes.

Unfortunately, Matias had also just created a winter wonderland in the center of a populated city. As soon as he reached for the ice in his soul he wavered slightly. His legs felt weak, and a wooziness drifted over him. He half stumbled, almost collapsing into Harlowe.

"The fuck is wrong with him?"​

The Guard said, jerking a spear towards the Frost Giant, the snow temporarily forgotten as they watched the giant of a man nearly tumble to the ground.

A hand came up to Matias' head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to get rid of the dizzy feeling spinning in his head. "Get that thing out of my face."

He bit at the Guard, an orneriness carrying through his tone.

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe tried to keep her face neutral as the giant almost collapsed on top of her. It was a testament to her strength that despite being half his size she didn't so much as stagger as he fell into her. Carefully she looped her hand about his waist, guiding his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't you know anything about Jötunns!?" She shook her head with a look of disgust. "He has been trying to keep this evil frost mage from consuming your whole city in an avalanche! Have a little respect," the guards had the good sense to look a little embarrassed but Harlowe wasn't done.

"You know what? I want to see your supervisor. We bled for you on that field, won this war for you, and this is how you treat us!? Why we should just let this mage bury you in the snow! C'mon guys," she sniffed and began walking to the graveyard.

 

[Felice]

A half step back accompanied Matias’ near tumble, more out of shock than anything else. Luckily, Harlowe was there to catch him as she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to brace the giant’s weight.

”Try to employ a bit of professionalism in the future,” Felice lectured as she turned and followed on the heels of the other two monsters.

She found it funny how her footsteps left tracks in the snow. It reminded her of the sand back in Cerak except it made her toes more numb than the liquor had. She wasn’t sure why her vampiric friend had missed it so much. Maybe it was just a reminder of home.

When they were, mostly, outside of earshot from the guards she chirped up, ”that was amazing. We should do that more often!” The rush of excitement was something the redhead could barely contain.

 

[Matias]

Matias managed to catch himself a bit as Harlowe began to lead them away, his hand half wrapped around her as he took a few deep breaths. "Fuck me."

The Frost Giant groaned, reaching up a hand to rub at his face again before gently pushing it back through his hair. Slowly he reached over Harlowe's side and grabbed the bottle of Ambrosia from her other hand, putting it to his lips and taking a swig.

He'd overdone it a little bit because of their dare, but...surely more alcohol couldn't be a bad idea in this context.

"Next time we should leave them wondering why they can't be like us." He murmured. "Or show them why shoving a spear in my face is a bad idea."

A sigh escaped him. "Let's go get our payment and then...then..."

Matias frowned. "Find a mansion."

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe waited until the were safely out of earshot before giggling at Felice's joy and excitement. Adrenaline was pumping through her. She wasn't naturally a talker, especially not someone who would try and challenge or lie to people. Especially soldiers.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed in agreement. It felt great, why hadn't she ever done that before? Harlowe pouted when the bottle was taken from her and narrowed her eyes at the giant, stepping out from under his arm so he had to fend for himself on his own two feet.

"Don't be such a grumpy gills," she tsked then stole the bottle back and passed it to Felice. "Why stop at a mansion let's get a castle!"

 

[Felice]

"Where's the fun in letting them know they're on the bottom of the food chain?" She asked at Matias' grumbling. "They're going to be thinking of how shit they are at their jobs all night now, they already knew we could kick their," Felice hiccupped, "scrawny asses."

To accentuate the point she used her hair to grab the bottle from Harlowe and took a loud, ladylike, slurp from the bottle. A satisfied smile crept across her lips and she passed the bottle back towards the vampire as she used the sleeve of her fur coat to whisk away the liquor that lingered on her mouth.

"Y,yeah... don't be a grumper gull," she added enthusiastically.

The notion of a castle was what really put a spring in her motions. She tried to strut but it looked more like a wobbly hobble in her hazy state of lucidity. At the same time her hair formed a crude cardinal-colored crown atop her head. "I always thought I shoulda lived in a castle," she mused as much to herself as to her two companions.

They were gonna get so much money from this graveyard meeting. And a castle. Anything less and she'd be ending a few mortal's lives for shortpaying them.

 

[Matias]

"Do they even have castles here?" Matias asked, not remembering anything like that except for the Cathedral.

The question wasn't really an objection, more of a pondering of logistics than anything else.

He frowned for a moment, and then shook his head as he decided it probably didn't even matter. The leaders of this city would give them whatever the fuck they wanted at this point. "We'll ask for two castles."

Matias decided.

With one more turn they reached the entrance of the graveyard. It was a surprisingly large thing, located upon the edge of the city and protected by a stone wall and a huge wrought iron gate.

Beyond that lay a dozen crypts, each one marked with the name of a family that had been rich enough to carry their wealth into death. Matias walked up to the gate, wrapping a hand around one of the iron. There was another chill in the air, a creak of metal, and then he motioned to the girls.

"Smashy smashy." He made a chopping motion with his hand towards the gate.

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe hated graveyards. It was probably a stupid thing considering what they were - what she was especially - but she still hated them. They gave her the creeps. At least it would probably freak out those lords more though, she thought to herself as she took a longer gulp of their new favourite liquor. She grimaced as it burned all the way down into the pit of her stomach but she certainly stopped caring as much about being surrounded by dead people.

Maybe, they'd even be as cool as Felice and Matias. It was a shame people still had to be alive to accept the contract.

Her eyes swept over the sold gate and rubbed her hands together.

"Smashy smashy," she repeated and walked over to lay her own hands on the iron. There was a horrendous noise as she began to peel the gates open. The bars bent in on themselves under the pressure, crumpled, some snapping entirely. By the time she had stopped pushing they were mangled pieces of metal barely recognisable.

 

[Felice]

The twisted metal and snapped barbs of iron served as a visceral reminder of just how incredibly well vampires performed the act of, ‘smashy smashy.’ Felice simply smirked as she walked, confidently, through the gaping hole.

”Thanks, that was amazing,” she said in a drunken awe. Her mouth hung open a bit longer than she had planned.

As the creatures walked into the graveyard they noticed not just mausoleums and headstones but a grouping of humans. The Duke and his cohort, she deduced. He was a dignified looking man in extravagant clothing and he was flanked by half a dozen guards on either side. He looked pissed too and when Felice followed his gaze she understood why.

Just a few paces down the sidewalk there was a smaller, hip level, gate sitting wide open. Inadvertently they’d accidentally destroyed a huge section of the graveyard fencing. Not that she cared.

“We’ve been waiting,” the Duke announced in an annoyed tone.

Felice had this under control. She was basically the leader of the trio at this point. At least, her alcohol addled mind insisted that was the case. She grabbed at the bottle of liquor and took a long gulp from it before handing it back to Harlowe. ”We want the gold.”

She walked several paces forward until she was uncomfortably close to the Duke. ”And a castle. Now.”

“What?” The Duke looked absolutely perplexed.

 

[Matias]

"The castle we negotiated for, but the Gold?"

Wait, they negotiated for a castle? The Regiment didn't take property, they didn't have a home. That didn't make any sense in the very least of all...what was he thinking about? Matias frowned for a brief moment, looking at Felice and then at Harlowe.

Did they have any idea?

It really felt like they knew better than him, but how could he possibly sit there and let two women take over the whole show. That just didn't make any sense at all.

"MANSION!" The Frost Giant shouted as Felice practically kissed the duke. "Give us a mansion in the city on opt of the Castle."

Where the fuck was this castle? "We want a little place in this city, someplace we can relax and...help you..if you need it."

Nailed it.

"Pay up." Matias demanded. "Or e-else."

The Temperature began to drop as he spoke.

 

[Harlowe]

There were downsides to not having a leader and this was one of them. Communication was key yet nobody seemed to use it in the Regiment. They either assumed you already knew, or that someone else would tell you the information you needed.

Harlowe managed to suppress a growl of frustration.

"What my associates mean to say, is that since being here we have been accused of starting this," she gestured to the tundra like landscape. "Including having weapons drawn on us, and we feel like such a slight against our Regiment would be soothed over with gold. The mansion in the city is the payment we'll be taking for catching the real culprit."

The Duke looked at his companions dubiously and Harlowe gave her best casual shrug.

"That, or we leave you with your frost mage problem and when we return... well we certainly won't be on your side of the field," she flashed them a fanged smiled which made one man actually take a step back.

 

[Felice]

Felice pressed a finger into the Duke’s chest, her face close enough to his that he could likely smell the alcohol on her breath. ”Yeah, you better listen to my f-friend there. You saw her bend that iron g-gate,” her gaze wandered and her finger loosened against the man’s chest, ”she did that for…”

For show? For what? Why did she, wait, why was Felice having so much trouble concentrating? Maybe it was something more of that booze could solve.

A hand grabbed at her stomach, her eyes glazed over, and her palms felt clammy. The redhead locked eyes with the Duke and for a split second he caught a glimpse of something far scarier than any monster or beast. He saw the face of imminent projectile vomit.

It was a slow build that she thought she could contain for a split second. Only a split second. Then it was huge, sudden, and violent. A putrid mixture of red bile that smelled of decaying flesh and several liters of liquor.

“Motherfucker,” was all the Duke could utter as the puke dripped down his shirt.

 

[Matias]

Matias burst out into laughter.

It was an uncontrollable below that reached up from his stomach and resounded throughout the graveyard. The sound seemed to carry, boisterous and loud enough to scare some birds that had been roosting in nearby nests.

"Sh-she- you...your face. Hahahaha." Matias half buckled over, hands catching on knees as he continued to laugh.

The Dukes face meanwhile grew darker and darker. Crimson embarrassment turned to absolute rage. His fingers tightened at his side and his body seemed to stiffen. The men at his side grew weary, and then finally the words came from his lips.

"Kill them!"

His command came, and then a second later an arrow arched down from one of the crypts and headed directly for Harlowe.

 

[Harlowe]

Nazara is going to kill us, Harlowe thought in the oddly calm manner of someone who had already resigned themselves entirely to their fate as Felice projectile vomited onto the Duke. She couldn't find any humour in it like Matias could, the whole situation having sobered her up horrifically quickly. Instead all she could do was stand there with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open as if she had hoped to somehow shout a warning before the vomit.

There was a moment of calm, like the eye of a hurricane, and then the graveyard erupted into chaos.

A bit of wood through the heart didn't kill vampires but it did put them into a deep sleep of sorts. So a well placed archer with a clear line of sight on her chest was a smart move by the Duke and it might have worked if she hadn't been sober. A problem she was going to remedy as soon as they got the hell out of this town.

In a blur of fur and silver hair she was gone and the arrow thudded harmlessly into the snowy ground beneath her feet. She came to a stop by Felice whom she pulled promptly over her shoulder like a sack of vomit-stained potatoes.

"Freeze them!" she shouted at Matias before legging it back towards the gate.

 

[Felice]

Everything happened so fast. One second she was lecturing the duke on his manners and the next he was covered in some kind of disgusting bile. Wait…

Oh god, that was her disgusting bile. Felice practically could’ve died from embarrassment right then and there. If, of course, the threat of actually dying hadn’t just increased tenfold.

”Wait, I’m sorry, we can uhh,” her words came out as a lazy groan. Before she could finish the thought her legs rushed up from under her and the world went upside down. ”Oof.”

Was Felice so drunk that her hair had turned into legs, flipped her around, and carried her away from the carnage that had just erupted? No, that wasn’t right, her hair wasn’t covered in fur nor was it silver. It also didn’t move at the pace of a rushing waterfall.

Harlowe had thrown Felice over her shoulder and was carrying her. The color of her cheeks turned the same crimson color as her hair. ”I’m sorry,” she whispered softly as the sobering truth of what happened dawned on her.

They could probably just convince Nazara that they were double crossed, right?

 

[Matias]

Fuck.

Matias did not have enough energy for this. He just froze the whole fucking city and now he was supposed to make some icicles? An arrow struck at his feet, the steel barb nearly stabbing through his toe as he took a large leap backwards.

"Fuck!" He swore as he drunkenly staggered back, his hand just snapping upwards.

This time the temperature didn't just drop, the people didn't just suddenly freeze. Instead the snow beneath their feet warped, shifted, and suddenly rose into massive pikes of ice. In an instant they stabbed through the Duke and his guards.

Splashes of red erupted from their backs, a cascade of blood spilling onto the ground as Matias turned on his heel and chased after the direction Harlowe and Felice had run.

More arrows rained down towards him, his hand lashing out again to summon what magic he had left. He heard a scream, the cracking of ice, but the Frost Giant didn't bother looking back.

 

[Harlowe]

Too slow.

She glanced briefly over her shoulder to where Matias was cursing a good half a mile back, throwing magic left right and centre. She could tell he couldn't keep it up much longer and without that they were going to be dead. Again. Unless they got out of here fast. Not human fast, Harlowe fast. With a soft curse she skidded to a halt, slipping in the snow but regaining her balance quickly enough.

"What's done is done," she sighed. Nazara they would figure out later. Or maybe they would just... run away. "Gods giants are so slow!" she huffed and without a seconds thought darted back the way she had come to where Matias was still lumbering after them like a tortoise.

"Have you got lead in your shoes?!" she snapped when she stopped in front of him even with arrows whizzing past them. Not giving him the chance to reply Harlowe threw him over her other shoulder and bolted off, leaving arrows in their dust.

 

[Felice]

There was a slight drop in temperature before Felice made out the blurry shapes of icy spears being stained red. If she were still human it would’ve been terrifying but her new life gave her an odd appreciation for the talents of others in the Regiment.

Once Harlowe tossed the frost giant the harionago couldn’t help but cast him a look. ”Hi,” she said with a mixture of warmth and teasing.

Incoming arrows could prove a problem, while probably not lethal they’d hurt like hell. To counteract this Felice’s hair fashioned itself into a shield of sorts behind Harlowe’s back. One or two arrows dug into her locks but the follicles of scarlet were sturdy enough to keep them safe.

It was probably just the alcohol but the girl failed to stifle a giggle as the pair were carried off into the night by their vampiric friend. She wanted to crack a joke about not needing a horse any longer but Felice figured the other two were already annoyed enough with her.